RUSTON, La. -- In a game that was billed as the battle of the true freshman quarterbacks, Louisiana Tech's Luke McCown passed for 353 yards and six touchdowns to lead the Bulldogs to a 48-14 homecoming win over Louisiana-Lafayette at Joe Aillet Stadium in front of 18,125.
The win was special for Tech (2-5) as it marked the 500th victory in school history and the 100th in Joe Aillet Stadium history.
McCown, making only his second career start, completed 31-of-42 passes, while throwing only one interception.
"Luke is really starting to come on now," said Tech Head Coach Jack Bicknell. "I think he is starting to get more comfortable with the offense. He has a lot of intangibles that make him really, really good. I think he is going to get better and better."
McCown got the Bulldogs on the board early, hitting Allen Stark on a 34-yard touchdown pass less than six minutes into the contest. Four minutes later, McCown found Sean Cangelosi from 3-yards away for a 14-0 Tech lead.
"He played well," said UL-Lafayette Coach Jerry Baldwin. "You have to give him credit, but we played bad. We didn't tackle or defend well."
Tech increased the lead to 24-0 at the half on a Josh Scobee 39-yard field goal and a McCown to James Jordan one-yard scoring strike in the second quarter. McCown said not only was the win important - snapping a five-game losing streak - but seeing the team play well and have a good time was even more critical.
"Just to get the win, get the win at homecoming, to see the team play with intensity, to see the team smiling because they are having fun ... you couldn't ask for more," McCown said.
Three more second half McCown touchdown passes -- a 39-yarder to Delwyn Daigre, a 26-yarder to Faheem Ali and a 12-yarder to Daigre - along with second Scobee field goal, from 27-yards away, finished out the Tech scoring.
Daigre led Tech with five receptions for 82 yards, while Jordan caught seven passes for 67 yards. In all 11 different Bulldogs caught a pass.
Junior Bobby Gray led Tech with 12 tackles, while Michael John Lenard and Gerome Wallace added six. Wallace also registered a sack.
UL-Lafayette (0-7) struck in the third quarter on an 82-yard punt return for a score and a six-yard Lance Domec to Andre George touchdown pass in the fourth stanza. Jon Van Cleave, UL-Lafayette's highly touted rookie signal caller, struggled, completing only 5-of-18 passes for 29 yards and one interception. The Ragin' Cajuns were led by Jerome Coleman who rushed 21 times for 117 yards and Darren Brister who rushed for 86 yards on 10 carries.
